Guardians of the Galaxy sell Groot or Rocket

Early on in Guardians of the Galaxy, you'll face an unfortunate choice (so beware of immediate spoilers): should you sell Groot or Rocket to Lady Hellbender? Both of them encourage you to sell them over the other but either choice leaves a bitter taste. There are minor consequences for selling Groot or Rocket, which I'll detail below.

Should you sell Groot or Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy? 

Selling either Groot or Rocket changes where you can find certain outfits, which you can find in our Guardians of the Galaxy outfit guide here. Otherwise, the choice essentially boils down to whether you want to explore Lady Hellbender's castle or blast your way out Star-Lord style. Either way, you need credits to pay off your debt to Nova Corp, so it's time to choose.

Sell Groot

If you choose to sell Groot, you'll get 10,000 credits for him. If you let Drax negotiate for you, there's a chance you'll get 12,000. Don't worry about not seeing him again, though; there's a stealth sequence later on where you can fight a few enemies and solve a puzzle to get him back.

Sell Rocket

Ultimately, Lady Hellbender doesn't see Rocket as a worthy trade offer. She'll laugh at you which incenses him and then it all goes a bit pear-shaped. You'll end up in a lengthy fight and trapped in a vault with poison gas. Luckily, there's also 12,000 credits in this vault, so remember to pick that up.

The decision is yours, but either way, you'll end up with the money and you won't lose any party members.

The first three games Lauren played on PC were Star Wars: X-Wing, Zoo Tycoon and Barbie Fashion Designer, which explains her love of all things space, strategy and aesthetically pleasing. Lauren recently took over as PC Gamer's Guides Editor after three years of writing many dozens of Destiny 2 guides at VG247, as well as casually trying to shoehorn in The Witcher 3 articles wherever possible. When she's not trying to force everyone to play as a Warlock in Destiny 2, Lauren is either mastering her SEO abilities to help smash the competition, or patting one of her red sons.

Knowing whether to sell Groot or Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy to Lady Hellbender is a tricky choice - neither option feels good, and the plan itself is pretty bad - sell one of them as a rare monster, then break in and steal them back once the money has been handed over. But both Guardians are fine with it, so you'll have to choose whether to sell Groot or Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy - and that's where we come in to explain the advantages of either character. Here's the best option in a bad situation.

Should you sell Groot or Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy?

After Nova Corp let you go, you'll have a huge fine over your head you'll need to pay off and zero money to do it. The crazy plan the Guardians of the Galaxy come up with is to sell Groot or Rocket to Lady Hellbender, a monster collector that will splash credits on interesting creatures. You'll make your initial choice on the Milano and later have a chance to change your mind just before you meet Hellbender. The choice you make will have quite a significant impact on the immediate gameplay, and for later, so here's what to expect: 

Sell Groot

If you decide to sell Groot Lady Hellbender will think he's a worthy monster and offer you 10,000 credits for him, though this can be increased to 12,000 if you let Drax handle negotiations and don't back down at any point. Groot will then be taken away, leading to a stealth section later where you sneak through a throne room after a party, fight some enemies and solve an electrical junction puzzle to rescue him. 

Sell Rocket

If you try and sell Rocket it doesn't go well: Lady Hellbender laughs, Rocket get angry at the insult and there's a lot of shooting. This leads into a long sequence of battles where you eventually end up locked in a vault full of poison gas. It's easy to escape though - just get Gamora to cut down the light in the middle of the room, and then get Drax to throw it at a weakness in the wall. While you're there you can also pick some money lying around to the tune of 12,000 credits.

What's the best choice? 

Whatever you decide you'll end up making Lady Hellbender furious and fighting the same giant boss as you try to escape. The key differences are that selling Groot is a stealthy option with a little more of a chance to see Lady Hellbender's castle in peacetime (barely), while Rocket's path is purely action-focused, blasting your way out in that quintessentially Rocket-like way. Choose according to which intrigues you most - atmosphere or gameplay.

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I'm currently GamesRadar's Senior Guides Co-ordinator, which means I've had a hand in producing or writing all of the guide and tips content on the site. I also write reviews, previews and features, and do video. Previously I worked for Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website. I'm a big fan of open world games, horror, and narrative adventures.